By
Twine Bananuka


Although it is commonly held that ‘a picture speaks more than a thousand words’,

It is equally true that a picture speaks more about the photographer than the person or image photographed (Silverman, 2005).

Wade et al (2002) also note that ‘A picture is worth a thousand lies’

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We have all at one point taken pictures or used them
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However, how often do we pause to ask;


 as to who took them, the purpose for which they were taken, the context in which they were taken and the intended audience.
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This gives a glimpse of the dilemma that researchers using photovoice and perhaps other visual methods find themselves in

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It is a participatory technique that involves facilitating research participants to take and analyze pictures describing their world and practices

Photovoice serves three major purposes, that is, enabling people to;
1) Record and represent their everyday realities;
2)
3)
Promote critical dialogue and knowledge about personal and community strengths and concerns;
Reach policymakers


The photovoice exploration reported in this paper was part of a larger case study of Emesco Development
Foundation (EDF), an indigenous
NGO focused on community development work.

The study was conducted in Buyanja county, Kibaale district, in midwestern Uganda.


Photovoice was used with one group of the population, i.e. Community Development
Workers (CDWs) as;
 a means of giving them an opportunity to tell their story and have their voices heard through photographic evidence

It was also adopted because it aligns very well with the critical theory paradigm adopted for this study

Participant pseudonym
Teruth
Sex
F
Nsemba
Iruku
Balifaijo
Noreda
Poskali
F
M
F
M
M
Age
61
32
30
36
52
68
Highest level Role in EDF Community of education
Primary 4 TBA Kiduukule
Primary 7
Certificate
Senior 4
Senior 2
Primary 7
CHW
CRP
CRP
CHW
CHW
Kiduukule
Kiduukule
Kiduukule
Busesa B
Lukindo

1.
The issue of power relations and vulnerability.

Power relations

Vulnerability and the right of minors/children.

The hows and the process of publishing photographs

The anonymity clause

2. The use of money to facilitate photovoice research
3. The use and handling of the camera
4. The control over ethical procedure by the Principal Researcher


Noreda (pseudonym);
I first took this photo of a mother who had just delivered … however when her husband later arrived, she told him about the photograph. He also said ‘please take mine too with my baby’. I then took his photograph carrying the baby.


IRUKU (pseudonym)

… after getting his permission to take his photograph as he worked on his blacksmith job, he objected that I do not also take the picture of his house, well knowing the poor condition in which it was. However,
I later asked somebody else to go and take the picture for me because I felt it would be an interesting case to the study…

PI/Facilitator; But this is against our agreed position of not taking pictures without permission …. Laughter
… (picture was not included in the selection and participants were told why)... and they concurred).

A TBA examining an expectant mother;
Although the TBA was my research participant/co-researcher, she passed over her camera to her son to take her photograph in action

Does permission/consent from parents morally bind the children?

A community meeting chaired by a local leader on community service

A TBA standing in the background giving postnatal lessons to mother before immunizing the children

A young couple with a newly born baby with the assistance of A TBA/research participant

Unemployed young men gambling on the roadside in the morning, instead of engaging in productive work

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Appeal to human conscience and reasoning
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The protection of human dignity
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Carefully interrogating research participants on the ethical procedures followed on each photograph presented to the group

Constantly being in touch with participants throughout the process rather than waiting to carry out an audit at the end of the process

Categorization of photographs in terms into levels of publication

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The argument advanced in this paper is that it takes more than written rules and standards set by Ethical Boards &
Committees to deal with issues related to ethics of photovoice research

Human judgement and the desire to protect human dignity remains key to photovoice ethics, although this standard can be abused

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Acknowledgements
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2)